Fender Bender - What Would You Do?

[Pleeplus]

I was driving in to work this morning on the mean streets of South Western PA when the guy in front of me decided to stop and rubber neck at the accident across the interstate and..... well apparently my car does not stop as quickly as his. Long story short, even though his rear bumper was lacking the ground clearance it had just previously had he was not interested in collecting my insurance information (I offered twice). Not that I complaining!

Anyway, my car now has some cosmetic bumper damage (a small hole and cracked and peeling paint), its pushed in a smidge which caused some small damage in the form of missing paint to the base of the hood. My car is a paid for 2007 Accord with 60K miles and my goal is to make it last 10 more years. From doing some quick research it looks like it will cost around $1500 to get it repaired correctly. My current deductible is $500 and I have a clean record and have never filed a claim.

At the present time due to the harsh winters, future rust problems and to enhance the chance of hitting my 10 year goal I am leaning towards getting it repaired. Does anyone know if filing one claim will cause an insurance premium to increase and if so any idea on percentage? Also, because I love to hear the input from the forum...... What would you do? Would you get it repaired? Would you choose another option that I didn't think of?

 

[razztazz]

Similar thing happened to me only mine was hit in a parking lot at night so there was no "Other Driver" to deal with. My car was 6 yrs old at the time. I filed, the insurance paid, and there was *NO* increase in premiums. They did require that I file a police report before they got involved.

Here's the ointmental fly as I see it. To wit: As I was asleep in the apartment when it was hit I was considered a victim. In your case you were driving. I was always told that if there is ever a rear-ender accident it's always considered the fault of the guy back. Following too closely. Going too fast. And I am inferring there is no police report here. I can't say how your company will handle it. Mine wanted a police report. This might be a rock you don't want to turn over

I eventually got 20 years out of my car though.

 

[Hermit]

Similar thing happened to me only mine was hit in a parking lot at night so there was no "Other Driver" to deal with. My car was 6 yrs old at the time. I filed, the insurance paid, and there was *NO* increase in premiums. They did require that I file a police report before they got involved.

Here's the ointmental fly as I see it. To wit: As I was asleep in the apartment when it was hit I was considered a victim. In your case you were driving. I was always told that if there is ever a rear-ender accident it's always considered the fault of the guy back. Following too closely. Going too fast. And I am inferring there is no police report here. I can't say how your company will handle it. Mine wanted a police report. This might be a rock you don't want to turn over

I eventually got 20 years out of my car though.

+1
You're likely to get a ticket for your trouble.

 

[travelover]

I'd take it to a body shop, tell them it is a cash deal (no insurance involved) and that you only want it fixed enough to make it last, not be cosmetically perfect. See what they recommend.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

This is what the junkyard is for. Go find yourself a part from someone else's junked car, and then put that on yourself, or find someone else to do it. Either way, you save big $$$.

 

[steelyman]

2009 was a bad year for me, accident-wise. During a blizzard, I was trying to leave the garage at work and some guy skidded into my car (I was stopped). We exchanged insurance info and they interviewed me (his company, Ameriprise) over the phone. It turned out he'd bent the subframe (not good) which was eventually replaced and paid for in full.

Then some fool in a pickup sideswiped my car while parallel parked, messed up the whole drivers side and just took off. My company (Amica) took care of the body work and my premium stayed the same.

I still have that SUV and am glad I got the repairs. But I thought I was jinxed for a while there. No problems since.

 

[Nodak]

My 2007 Lincoln MKX was T-boned in late October. The insurance company (State Farm) totaled the car and payed off within 2 days and I purchased another 2007 MKX. I hadn't had anything other than a busted windshield claim in the last 20 years. Just got the next bill in the mail yesterday and there was no increase in premium.

 

[utrecht]

There's a good chance that if the insurance company pays a claim based on something that was your fault, they are going to raise your rates.

 

[splitwdw]

Agree with Travelover and Hawkeye. Try both of those options. Also check out Blue Book to see what your car is worth and if it's worth getting $1500 in cosmetic repairs.

 

[MRG]

I think Hogan and company had your answer:

MRG

 

[Meadbh]

I was hit from the side on a very icy street in 1996 when my Honda Accord was only 6 months old. I was stationary at the time. We both had the same provincial insurance and the costs were allocated to the other guy's insurance. I kept the car another 17.5 years.

I think you should count yourself lucky it wasn't worse and I suggest you get it repaired as economically as possible without involving insurance. There us still a possibility that you might get dinged for the damage to the other car.

 

[Bestwifeever]

DH backed into a black, very low to the ground, foreign parked car last year and it was quite an expensive repair of body work that our insurance covered. He also put in a claim on our SUV's dinged bumper for $120 after deductible (I would have just paid this but oh well). These were our first claims in 15 years (DS had a little incident right after getting his license). Our annual premium just increased $5.

 

[HFWR]

Plug in!

 

[Pleeplus]

.....Love the Hogan's Hero's reference!

Also glad to hear that your insurance did not go up much if at all for filing a claim, in the event I have to go down that road.

Ok, so you guys had me worried about the whole ticket thing so I called my BIL who is a police officer in DE and he said that I will not get a ticket for this as it is too late and the other driver is out of the picture. I don't think I have to worry about the driver as it was still dark, on a major interstate during rush hour traffic and he didn't even look up at my car. BIL actually thinks he was either driving on a suspended license or did not have any insurance causing him to leave the scene so quickly.

So the recommendation coming from my BIL is to call the insurance in the morning. Let them know what happened and give them a heads up that I am going to take it for an estimate . If the estimate is high enough I may be contacting them to file a claim. I will then take it in to the local body shop and see what the costs are going to be to get it fixed and make my decision on next steps from there.....

I will keep you guys posted and thanks for the insights.

 

[pb4uski]

Makes sense to me.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

I would not get it repaired.

 

[Sue J]

Maybe go for the estimate first, then decide about contacting the insurance company. I had an incident where I called our homeowners insurance company to notify them.. When I actually had the repair done the cost was under my deductible so I called and told them that I wasn't going to file a claim after all. Because I reported it, it counted as a claim even though I never filed and it cost them nothing.

This was a car vs. garage door incident where our homeowners and auto insurance were with the same company.

 

[Walt34]

BIL actually thinks he was either driving on a suspended license or did not have any insurance causing him to leave the scene so quickly.

That would be my guess too. I also doubt you'd get a ticket since there is no witness. If an officer did issue a ticket, go to court, plead "not guilty" and remain silent. Since there is no witness and no evidence to present the judge will dismiss it.

Re filing the claim it seems to be a roll of the dice if your premiums will increase.

 

[Empresario]

Future Liability

Any chance the driver you hit did get your information? License number? I'm always concerned that some kind of neck problem, long-term rehab, etc. will surface and you have no insurance protection.

 

[Pleeplus]

Maybe go for the estimate first, then decide about contacting the insurance company. I had an incident where I called our homeowners insurance company for an incident. When I actually had the repair done the cost was under my deductible so I called and told them that I wasn't going to file a claim after all. Because I reported it, it counted as a claim even though I never filed and it cost them nothing.

Good to know Sue J - I think I will go to the body ship first and then decide if I need to call the insurance company.

 

[Pleeplus]

Any chance the driver you hit did get your information? License number? I'm always concerned that some kind of neck problem, long-term rehab, etc. will surface and you have no insurance protection.

Fortunately there is no way he got any of my info. I don't have a plate on the front of my car (it's legal in PA) and I pulled up behind him. On top of that he was in such a hurry to get away he never walked near my car. Thankfully!

 

[travelover]

Good to know Sue J - I think I will go to the body ship first and then decide if I need to call the insurance company.

You should be sure that there is no hidden damage like a radiator that is now too close to a fan, a cracked transmission cooler or a hood that might fly up on the expressway. Unless the cosmetics matter, I'd skip them or buy parts at a junk yard and have them painted, then bolt them on myself.

 

[HFWR]

You should be sure that there is no hidden damage like a radiator that is now too close to a fan, a cracked transmission cooler or a hood that might fly up on the expressway. Unless the cosmetics matter, I'd skip them or buy parts at a junk yard and have them painted, then bolt them on myself.

^^^ Fits the er-org profile...

 

[travelover]

^^^ Fits the er-org profile...

Oh, you've seen my car?

 

[38Chevy454]

This is what the junkyard is for. Go find yourself a part from someone else's junked car, and then put that on yourself, or find someone else to do it. Either way, you save big $$$.

X2, this is my suggestion. You can probably get it done for not much more than your deductible by using this path.